Chelsea Win Premier League
When the decisive moment arrived there were a few moments when Antonio Conte gave the impression he might actually run all the away from the touchline to join in the victory scrum in front of the goal.
Chelsea’s manager made it half a dozen yards on to the pitch before checking back but it was not long before the celebrations started for real and his first season in charge of this team was assured of its happy ending.
For Chelsea, it was the moment that confirmed their fifth Premier League in the last 12 years and the only downside of a glorious night for the new champions was the trouble that broke out in the home stands after the substitute Michy Batshuayi had delivered the telling blow 82 minutes into a match when Conte’s men had to show all their perseverance.
They have played a lot better at times this season but there can be no doubt they have been the best team in the country and it has never been a bad trait for a team at the top of the league to play below their best but still manage to win. Batshuayi’s late contribution gave them a 10-point lead at the top of the table, with Tottenham Hotspur having three games left, and they were jubilant scenes at the end.
Two of Chelsea’s recent managers, André Villas-Boas and Roberto Di Matteo, lost their jobs after jarring defeats at this ground. That, however, felt like a long time ago as the Chelsea fans started early with their victory songs in the Smethwick End. The followers of Conte’s team have a new addition to their songbook – “Tottenham Hotspur, it’s happened again” – and the fact it was aired so lustily within the opening few minutes suggested none of the people in that stand seriously imagined there could be a late twist.
Chelsea are just too powerful for that to be a realistic proposition and the pattern of the game was quickly established. Conte’s men began like a team in a hurry. N’Golo Kanté was restricted to a place on the bench, on his way back from a groin injury, but Cesc Fàbregas is an elegant replacement and provided some of the night’s more refined touches. Eden Hazard and Pedro were quick, elusive opponents. Victor Moses, a renascent figure under Conte’s guidance, made it a difficult night for James McClean on West Brom’s left and Marcos Alonso showed again why he has become such an important player.
At various times this season Chelsea have been depicted as a counterattacking team – defence-orientated, if you listen to José Mourinho – but they can actually adapt their game in many ways and this was one of the occasions when they quickly made it clear they would spend large parts of the night in opposition territory.
A reasonable argument could also be made that this was a good time to visit The Hawthorns given that West Brom have been in the worst form of any Premier League side since the beginning of April, taking only two points from their previous six games and setting an unwanted club record of failing to score five times in a row. Indeed, this is actually a common theme of Tony Pulis’s managerial career in the top division. He has won only six games out of the previous 44 since his teams have reached 40 points and they went into this game on the back of three successive 1-0 defeats at home.
